The pericarp of Zanthoxylum bungeanum is commonly used in China as a food spice. This part of the plant is also used in Chinese and Indian traditional medicine as a local anaesthetic and to treat dysentery. The essential oil, which contains a series of monoterpenes including 1,8 cymene, linalool, 4-terpinol, caryophyllene, limonene, etc., is reported to be a potent insect repellent.
The antiviral activity of the peel of said fruit was recently described in EP 568001.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,137,912, chelcrythrine, extracted from the root bark of Zanthoxylum simulans (a synonym of bungeanum), was found to be active in the prevention of thrombosis. As described in JP 01294657, extraction from the pericarp with organic solvents allows the preparation of an extract containing isobutylamides which possesses local anaesthetic activity that is already present 30 seconds after application to the tongue, and persists for 20-80 minutes.